We got a chance to catch up with Andy Young to chat about his tournament win in the Denny’s Super 30.

Where does the Denny’s Super 30 take place and how often?

There are five tournaments, all on Lake Minnetonka, in Minnesota, the first one is in May and the last one is in September.

There are a lot of regular anglers in these tournaments. Do you fish every one?

There is a limit of 50 boats in each tournament, and yes I do fish all of them. The tournament fills up every year, and you usually have to fish all five of them to get in.

How does the game change when there are a lot of anglers that are familiar with the lake and the tournament?

Well, most of the fisherman in this tourney are from this area and have been fishing tournaments on Tonka for many years. So there are very few, if any, secret spots. In most cases, it takes a 3 1/2 pound average to even cash a check and it usually takes over a 4 pound average to win.

So, how’d you do?

We had 8 fish for 28.9 pounds and we won.

How does it feel to win?

It feels great to win. We have had a handful of second place finishes, and a bunch of top-five finishes but the last Denny’s tournament that we won on Minnetonka was way back in 2004.

What tactics and lures did you use to get your huge bag and how’d you catch that Swamp Donkey?

We caught all of our fish by sight-fishing on beds. Our main baits were a 3-inch Biovex Klot Fish Tail, an Outkast Tackle Finesse jig with a Zoom Little Critter Craw trailer, and a 4-inch Senko.

We located that big swamp donkey the day before the tournament—it was on a big flat, in about three feet of water, way out in the middle of nowhere, so I thought there was a really good chance that we would get it. When we went to this location on the morning of the tournament, it was there! On the first cast that I made to it, it instantly grabbed my jig but I committed the cardinal sin and set the hook way too hard—breaking it off. My partner was screaming and yelling at me and I was almost in tears—ha ha. So I picked up a spinning rod with a little 4-inch Senko with 10-pound line. In two casts it bit again. The fight was on! My partner Larry started screaming and yelling again, freaking out, running around the boat with a 10′ net. But we got her—it was pretty cool!

When is your next tournament?

I’ll be returning to the Denny’s Super 30 on Lake Minnetonka on July 15, 2013.

Did you pick up any tricks from this tourney to apply to the next one?

Yes, I learned that you should fish the conditions that the day offers you. Yesterday it was bright, sunny and fairly calm so we decided to put the trolling motor on high to cover a ton of water looking for spawning fish on beds—and, sure enough, we found them.

Any parting thoughts or words of wisdom?

Don’t give up on a spawning fish even if you break it off—if it’s an aggressive fish, it will bite again.

Andy Young is a krugerfarms.com pro angler, fishing the Bassmaster Open tournaments. You can like him on Facebook here for updates on his fishing experience.